(Minghui.org) A fellow practitioner gave me 200 yuan to bring to our materials production site a few days ago. I lost the money. Shocked, I examined myself to see why this happened, and realized that I did not treat Dafa's resources seriously.
Not long ago, I was asked to buy a replacement spring for a broken hole puncher at a production site. Since it wasn't available locally, I had to order it online. The first one didn't fit. I wasn't sure which model would fit, so I ordered springs for 3 different models to avoid having to exchange them.
Even though a spring doesn't cost much, there's a shipping charge for each one. The total cost was more than 50 yuan. It suddenly occurred to me that I did not value Dafa's resources as much as I did my own money. If the money had come out of my own pocket, I would have first ordered one to try, and then exchanged it for another one if it didn't fit. After I saw where I had fallen short, I took 100 yuan out of my pocket, plus 200 yuan to make up for the money I lost. Cultivation is a serious matter, and I have to be strict with myself.
I'd like to mention another issue related to Dafa's resources. Fellow practitioner Zhang and her husband appeared to be sick, and their symptoms looked like bad colds. Practitioner Li felt that disciples are one body, and that we should notify other fellow practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for Zhang and her husband. A agreed. Li sent out a group notice, hoping more fellow practitioners could help them eliminate this interference. Though it sounded like there was nothing wrong with doing this, I thought we should have the ability to eliminate this little interference ourselves. Having a large number of practitioners involved is a waste of Dafa's resources.
One day, my mother fell on the street and couldn't get up. With a passerby's help, she was moved to the side of the road and called me. I immediately hurried there and took her home by taxi.
After she got home, mother couldn't get up at all. We could not find exactly where the injury was, but her entire body was in pain. She needed help from me or my brother to make the smallest movement, and every movement brought her excruciating pain. All three of us had strong faith that mother would recover, because Master is with us.
We looked inward, sent forth righteous thoughts, and studied the Fa. We decided not to ask fellow practitioners for help. When some practitioners heard about it, they came to visit mom, and brought food. We asked them to take it back, because we refused to treat her as a patient. I asked them not to visit her, because we three practitioners should be able to eliminate this interference. The foremost responsibility of practitioners is to offer salvation to sentient beings. We shouldn't take up fellow practitioners' time with this small matter. When they expressed their concern, I asked them to stay home and send forth righteous thoughts, but not to spend too much time on it.
Mom endured tremendous pain to do the meditation exercise. As soon as she could stand up, she started doing the standing exercises. We put a chair next to her in case she needed to sit down. Although she did not sit while she did the exercises, she was too exhausted to move afterward. Four days later, she was able to go to the bathroom by herself. Within a month, she was able to go shopping by herself.
We truly experienced Master's profound grace during this test. No words can describe our gratitude. In my opinion, mom pulled through not only because of her strong faith, but also because we treasured fellow practitioners' time and energy. All of Dafa's resources are to be used for Fa-rectification and to offer salvation to sentient beings. No one should misuse our resources, whether it be money or our precious time. The evil is constantly watching us, searching for any opportunity to persecute us. To help Master in Fa-rectification, we have to walk a righteous path and follow Master's words:
“Most fundamentally, you all still need to establish your great mighty virtue in the process of shattering the old forces’ persecution, and return to your highest positions.” (“Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples,” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
The above is my limited understanding. Please do point out anything inappropriate!